Jeff Viehmeyer shares his techniques for balancing quality, cost and time in a customized approach to customer satisfaction. By Sigrid Tornquist “Excessive perfectionism can strangle success,” says Jeff Viehmeyer, owner of Alameda Canvas & Coverings in Alameda, Calif. “Every project has a correct balance between quality, cost and time—and you have to find the balance [...]

By Pat Hayes We all know that service to our customer is critical, especially in this economy. How is it woven into your daily operation? Have you clearly defined your client expectations and established a means of meeting them in order to ensure satisfaction and a continuance of your business relationships? “Service” begins with the [...]

The massive and controversial “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” and the “Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010,” the two recently enacted health care reform bills, included more than $400 billion in so-called “revenue raisers” and new taxes on employers and individuals. The centerpiece in these health reform laws is the mandate for [...]

Katie Bradford uses computer imaging to fabricate hard-to-design projects. by Sigrid Tornquist “We can take a photograph of a boat, create a computer model of it and add to it the virtual structure that we intend to build,” says Katie Bradford, MFC, IFM, owner of Custom Marine Canvas in Noank, Conn. “That way the customer [...]

The IRS introduced a list of the top ten things every business owner should know about hiring people as independent contractors versus hiring them as employees. The list highlights the characteristics the IRS uses to determine the relationship between businesses and workers, as well as how to properly classify workers, avoiding higher tax bills and [...]

Mistake-proof your business with free online tools Mistake-proof your business with free online tools By Jay Arthur Even if you’re the owner of a successful business, the recession might have you worried. So how can long-standing business owners and first-time entrepreneurs survive these tough times? There’s an easy way to mistake-proof any business—all it takes [...]

Your business lifeblood is sales leads. Here’s how to find them, develop them and keep from screwing them up. by Marc Hequet David Green gets sales. For one thing, when you call to ask him about it, he might say he can’t talk now because he’s with customers. That deft move has two effects: Customers [...]

By Mark E. Battersby In the not so distant past, marine fabricators spent hundreds of hours or large amounts of money hiring a programmer to customize an accounting system for their shops. Fortunately, the days of cumbersome, manual systems are long past, and today there are a number of affordable and full-featured software packages that [...]

Traditional tactics yield results, but so do the web and social media. By Marc Hequet Recession’s rough seas haven’t changed Jeri Perillo’s marketing approach: word of mouth is her best marketing tool—that and her website. Business is changing, but tried-and-true marketing tactics still work. “We’ve pretty much stuck to our plan and we’re doing pretty [...]

A new report finds that economic prosperity increases with manufacturing. However, pro-growth policies are required to create jobs and remain globally competitive. The future of the boating industry is dependent on the acceleration and strengthening of manufacturing production in the United States. The report, “Manufacturing Resurgence—A Must for U.S. Prosperity,” was released on Jan. 21 [...]